Bob Suter, a defenseman who recovered from a broken ankle to help the “Miracle on Ice” United States hockey team win the Olympic gold medal in 1980, died on Tuesday in Madison, Wis. He was 57.
Suter was the father of Ryan Suter, a star for the Minnesota Wild, who confirmed the death. No further details were given, though some news reports said he apparently had a heart attack.
Like many of the players recruited by Herb Brooks, the United States coach, Suter had not played beyond the college level — at the University of Wisconsin in his case — when he joined the team as it prepared for the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, N.Y. About three months before the Games, he sustained a broken ankle in a preliminary game against the Canadian Olympic team.
But he recovered enough to play for the American team at Lake Placid, and was on the ice during its memorable 4-3 upset win over a powerful Soviet Union team in a medal-round game. Soviet teams had won every gold medal in hockey since 1964. The United States team then defeated Finland to win the gold medal in an Olympic run that became known as the “Miracle on Ice” and was celebrated in books and films.
Suter was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1977 but continued to play in college. In 1981 he signed a free-agent contract with the Minnesota North Stars. He played with its farm team but never played in the National Hockey League.
“There are other things I wanted to do besides play hockey,” he told the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail in 1981, after he had retired. “And as far as sporting endeavors go, I’ll never match the victory at Lake Placid.”
Robert Allen Suter was born in Madison on May 16, 1957. A rugged player known for piling up penalty minutes, he starred in high school at Madison East and helped the University of Wisconsin win the national title in 1977. After his playing career, he owned an ice rink and sporting goods store in Wisconsin and worked as a scout for the Wild.
Suter’s younger brother Gary played in the N.H.L. for 18 years. Gary Suter, in 2002, and Ryan Suter, in 2010, also played on Olympic hockey teams for the United States, winning silver medals. Both survive him; information on other survivors was unavailable.
Suter was the first member of the 1980 Olympic hockey team to die. Brooks, the coach, died in an auto accident in 2003, at 66.
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